A portfolio in the European Commission is an area of responsibility assigned to a European Commissioner, usually connected to one or several Directorates-General (DGs).
Portfolios
Agriculture
The Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development is in charge of rural issues including most notably the controversial Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) which represents 44% of the EU budget. The post used to be combined with Fisheries in the Jenkins and Thorn Commissions. The related DG is the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development
Climate Action
The post of Commissioner for Climate Action was created in February 2010, being split from the environmental portfolio to focus on fighting climate change. The first Commissioner to take the post was Connie Hedegaard who headed the Directorate-General for Climate Action.
Competition
The Commissioner for Competition is the member responsible for commercial competition, company mergers, cartels, state aid, and anti-trust law. The position became the sole merger authority for the European Economic Area in September 1990. The Competition Commissioner is one of the most powerful positions in the commission and is notable in affecting global companies. For example, the commissioner has been pursued a number of high-profile cases against anticompetitive behaviour; such as the case against the merger of Sony – BMG, against Apple Inc. regarding iTunes, the ongoing case against Microsoft and in particular the GE-Honeywell merger attempt in 2001. In 2007, Neelie Kroes (then Competition Commissioner) was the only Commissioner to make Forbes Magazine's List of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women; she held position 59.
Development
The Commissioner for Development deals with promoting sustainable development in deprived regions (such as ACP countries and the EU's OCTs). It used to include humanitarian aid. The related DG is Directorate-General for International Partnerships
Digitalization and Informations
The Commissioner for the Digital Agenda, previously the Commissioner for Information Society and Media, is responsible media and information issues such as telecoms and ICT.
2004–2010 Commissioner, Viviane Reding, found a relatively popular policy in seeking to lower roaming charges of mobile phones when travelling within the EU, stating: "For years, mobile roaming charges have remained unjustifiably high. We are therefore tackling one of the last borders within Europe's internal market". Her legislation to cap roaming charges was approved by the Parliament in April 2007 On 7 April 2006 the commission launched the new ".eu" TLD for websites for EU companies and citizens wishing to have a non-national European internet address. This has proved popular with 2.5 being registered by April 2007. It is now the seventh most popular TLD worldwide, and third in Europe (after .de and .uk)
In the previous Commission information society was linked with Enterprise (now linked with Industry).
Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs
The Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs is responsible for the EU's economic affairs including the euro. In the Juncker Commission, the post also acquired responsibility for taxation and anti-fraud protection.
There have been calls for a strengthened economic portfolio with Ségolène Royal suggesting that there should be an economic government for the eurozone and at the start of the first Barroso Commission Germany suggested an economic "super-commissioner" – which could see a change in this position. That idea, however, was dropped but the Enterprise and Industry Commissioner was strengthened in response.
Education, Culture, Sport and Youth
The Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth is responsible for policies in education and training, youth, sport, civil society, culture, translation, interpretation and relations with the Office for Official Publications of the European Communities.
The post was enlarged since the Prodi Commission with the addition of training and multilingualism (The Directorate-General is still just Directorate-General for Education and Culture). When Romania joined the EU in 2007, multilingualism was handed over to the new Romanian commissioner. In its place the portfolio included youth, sport and civil society. Multilingualism was reintroduced in 2010 under Barroso's second Commission.